Preheat oven to 180°C. To make the stuffing, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushroom, bacon and leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the bacon and mushroom is golden. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, parsley and egg and stir until combined.

Step 2

Remove excess fat and giblets from chicken cavity. Rinse the chicken inside and out under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towel. Loosely fill the cavity with stuffing mixture. Use unwaxed white kitchen string to tie the legs together. Tuck wings under. Place chicken, breast-side up in a roasting pan. Drizzle over the oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with thyme.

Step 3

Roast in oven for 1 1/2 hours or until golden and the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer. Cover with foil. Set aside for 10 minutes to rest before carving. Serve

Ratings & Comments

Ratings & Comments

Lovely stuffing, great flavour. I added chopped rosemary and thyme to the mixture as well as scattering the herbs over the chicken. My bird was 2.3kgs and I roasted for 1 hour 45 mins.

4missbliss added this comment at
12:50pm Mon 2nd June, 2014

This is my go-to roast chook recipe. The stuffing can be baked seperately if you prefer. I just add the tray into the oven about 15 minutes before finish. I also massage a bit of thyme and butter under the skin of the chook. Delish!

5wdb21212 added this comment at
03:11pm Tue 25th February, 2014

A really easy way to make a cheap roast that little more special. It was really yummy.

5Rooman added this comment at
09:52pm Sat 18th August, 2012

well all my Chicken with mushroom, leek and bacon stuffing went off with an amazing hit. if you want the recipe just ask. My wife said that stuffing is amazing and the Chicken is so juicy. the kids ate the stuffing and then said " this stuffing is sop much better than the one in the shops dad" I added Garlic to the bacon and also I added Thyme to the bread crumbs mix. then I sqeezed a lemon . sooo nice

4.5bluepoppy added this comment at
08:27pm Sun 15th January, 2012

This was a lovely stuffing - I also chopped up a small brown onion and sauted it with the leeks. Everyone approved and the thyme and chicke are a marriage made in heaven.

5louian added this comment at
04:52pm Wed 11th January, 2012

everyone raved about this recipe so easy, chicken stayed lovely and moisted all round great recipe

2malb added this comment at
08:52pm Wed 23rd November, 2011

YUCK! I cooked this tonight and the flavours are earthy and muddy thanks to the leek and mushrooms. This stuffing would be more suited to game birds or turkey. I will go back to the tried and true "How to roast a chicken" on page 221 of Old Food by Jill Dupliex. Basically pull the fat from the cavity of a 1.6 kg chook and render it down in a small saucepan, squeeze a lemon inside and out, rub with salt and pepper and then stuff the lemon into the cavity, tie it up and pour over 2/3 of rendered fat. Put onto a rack in backing tray and fill almost to rack with hot water. bake in oven at 200c for 30 min then pour over rest of rendered fat. Cook for a further 30 min at 180 and test with skewer. Rest, covered for 10 min and serve.......Result clean fresh tasting and moist chicken - EASY!

5bbinthekitchen added this comment at
09:10pm Mon 14th March, 2011

Beautiful stuffing - substituted bacon for pancetta

5koyleegee added this comment at
05:30pm Mon 13th December, 2010

This was the first roast i've made and it was beautiful!

5Jussie271 added this comment at
09:34am Tue 9th November, 2010

This stuffing is FANTSTIC! Sooo delicious. Added slivered almonds and everybody loved it. ill be a new fave.

5jeastham added this comment at
11:37pm Mon 13th September, 2010

Scrumptious, easy, family favourite

4.5heathermq added this comment at
11:03am Thu 22nd July, 2010

This roast chook was great and the stuffing excellent. Leeks were limp at the shop so I subsituted half a brown onion. I also added fresh thyme to the stuffing. Everyone enjoyed the meal and the leftover stuffing, chicken and lettuce in a sandwich the next day got the thumbs up from my husband

4.5tj2000 added this comment at
12:07pm Tue 4th May, 2010

The stuffing was beautiful. the only addition I made was adding dried thyme to the stuffing mix. i also used a corn-fed organic chicken and it was full of flavour.

5rulenazi added this comment at
07:10pm Sat 3rd April, 2010

OMY!! This is delicious !! Make it !!!

5ChaiLicorice added this comment at
08:42pm Fri 1st January, 2010

I made this stuffing for the first time on Christmas Day. It was easy to make and didn't take very long either. It was just the right amount and made a nice change from the usual mixed herb style one I usually make. The whole family loved it so I will definitely make this one again.

This was the best roast chicken I've ever had, won't be eating the regular kind after tasting this

5rdw206 added this comment at
09:58pm Mon 17th August, 2009

this stuffing was lovely.i`m usually the only one who eats stuffing but the whole family loved it.i added a bit of thyme to it as suggested.will definately make this again.the chicken i had was already seasoned so i did`nt follow that part of the recipe.

5SoBesco added this comment at
05:32pm Thu 9th July, 2009

I always buy pre marinated chickens but this was well worth doing it myself the flavours infused the chicken beautifully and the stuffing was loved by all.

4.5meganmacardy added this comment at
09:39pm Tue 7th July, 2009

This stuffing was delicious!!! I added to the thyme to the stuffing. Two thumbs up from my husband!

4karynm16 added this comment at
09:14pm Mon 2nd February, 2009

Not bad - I added sage as well as parsley - but not as nice as the cranberry and pistachio stuffing also on Taste! This makes plenty of stuffing so I roasted some with the veges, as well as using it in the chicken.

5htey1 added this comment at
03:41pm Thu 28th August, 2008

I don't normally bother with stuffing as no one in my house eats it but liked the combination of flavours for this one so gave it go. The stuffing was really tasty and I'd use the recipe again.

4.5ladyhelga added this comment at
10:21am Sun 27th July, 2008

Some people say the best meal is the one made by someone else, well in this case I loved it as if it was made by someone else.
I have never roasted a chicken before and am happy to say I will definetly be doing it in the future with this recipe.

4.5Onel added this comment at
10:58am Fri 11th July, 2008

Just used the stuffing and did the chicken our way. The stuffing turned out pretty good! Was very pleased didn't have leek so just used onion and tasted great. Next time i will try adding some semi sun-dried tomatoes and pine-nuts and see what happens!